Motorsport: Indycars hit Circuit of the Americas

We preview all the weekend's racing and news.

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Will Power will be looking to join the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Marc Marquez as a winner at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

The American open-wheel series is hitting the US home of the Formula One and MotoGP grand prix for the first time this weekend. Teams tested at the track in the pre-season to prepare for the grandly-named Indycar Classic, a 60-lap race around the venue.

This is the first chance to directly compare the speed of the latest generation F1 machines and Indycars, with testing showing the American racers are approximately 14-seconds slower around the 5.4km circuit.

Australian Power is hoping to continue his strong start to the season, coming off the back of claiming pole position and finishing in third place during the season opener at St Petersburg, Florida.

"St. Pete was a pretty solid weekend,” Power said. “We're off to such a great start with the No. 12 Verizon Chevy and all of Team Penske. It's just a really great time for everyone in our shop and all the success we've had across the board. We have had a fast start and have every intention of continuing that.

“COTA is a really neat track - the turns are really unique, and you can find some speed in the straightaways. It's going to be really fun to race at a brand new track for the series and get to meet a lot of new fans. I'm ready to get back on track and give it our all."

Defending series champion, Scott Dixon, is looking forward to tackling COTA for the first time and believes the teams will find more speed than they had in pre-season testing.

“Circuit of the Americas is one of those iconic tracks every driver has had their eye on since it debuted with F1 a few years back,” Dixon said. “Our recent test went well there, but I think there is going to be some more things we need to do to find speed and get where we want to be.”

Formula E: Electric series hits China

The Formula E series heads to the “Hawaii of China” for this weekend’s sixth round. Sanya is located on Hainan Island, home of the country’s tropical resorts, and will feature a 2.3km street circuit.

The competition in the electric series has been intense during the new season which features the new Gen2 cars. Five different drivers have won the first five races so the championship battle is tight, with 11 drivers mathematically capable of leading the championship by the end of the weekend.

Virgin Racing’s Sam Bird leads the standings by a single point from Mahindra’s Jerome D’Ambrosio, with Lucas di Grassi (Audi) and Edoardo Mortara (Venturi) a further point behind.

ARC reveals new format

The Australian Rally Championship promised to shake-up its formats for 2019, and this week announced plans to cram the National Capital Rally in Canberra into a single day of competition.

Instead of the typical two-day format, with separate heats each day, competitors will have one chance to hit the stages on May 11.

It’s hoped the condensed format will appeal to fans and it has already proved popular with the drivers.

“I’m really excited to see all the excitement and buzz around this event,” said Subaru driver and former champion, Molly Taylor.

“I think the one day format will be really exciting because it will mean there will be less strategy and everyone is going to have to just go flat out. Short, sharp and intense.”

Renault joins TCR Australia

Garry Rogers has doubled his investment in the new TCR Australia, buying a pair of Renault Megane racers to go along with its Alfa Romeo Giuliettas.

While investing in the new touring car series for small cars, Rogers was adamant he remains loyal to the V8 Supercars Championship.

He said: “We see this category as the growth phase of motorsport in Australia. We love our V8s, we love what we do, but there’s certainly room for this category in the motorsport landscape.”

The team will now look for drivers to race the French machines, ahead of the championship opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park on May 17-19. Garry Rogers Motorsport is the only team to confirm a driver, with 2017 Toyota 86 series champion Jimmy Vernon locked in for one of the squad’s Alfa Romeos.

Cars from Hyundai, Honda, Audi and Volkswagen are already in the country and are expected to be on the grid when the TCR series begins.

F1 hopeful makes sports car switch

Joey Mawson had been one of Australia’s leading contenders to join the Formula One grid in recent years, but after four seasons in European open-wheeler racing he has decided to make the switch to the Porsche Supercup series.

He will lead a newly formed Team Australia three-car outfit, partnered by gentlemen drivers Steven Grove and Marc Cini.

While the change from the GP3 open-wheeler series to the one-make Porsche championship will be a big adjustment for Mawson, the series still runs on the F1 support schedule so it won’t be a complete change for him.

Mawson said: “It’s an ultra-competitive racing series and I look forward to lining up for the 2019 season alongside my Team Australia teammates Marc and Stephen. My maiden Supercup season will no doubt include some unique challenges so it’s great to have a couple of Australians in my corner throughout the season.”

The three Aussies will be joined on the grid by Kiwi Jaxon Evans, who earned a seat in Porsche Junior program.

W Series showdown looms

The final round of driver selection for the all-new, female-only W Series will take place this weekend.

A four-day test at the Almeria circuit in Spain will help the judging panel - which includes former F1 drivers David Coulthard and Alex Wurz - to select 18 racers from the remaining 28 contenders.

Two Australians, Caitlin Wood and Alexandra Whitely, remain in contention for the program that will hold six-rounds in 2019 with the winner receiving a US$500,000 prize to advance their career.

The series also revealed its new car, the Tatuus T-318, and five distinctive colour schemes that leave room for the driver’s names, numbers and national flags.

Stephen has been interested in cars as long as he can remember. Speed is in the blood as his great-grandfather was a motor racing pioneer in Australia, establishing several land speed and racing records.
Based in Sydney, professionally he has been writing about everything on four-wheels since 2001…

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